The present invention provides a transport system for a textile machine having manual re-supply assisting means and, more particularly, a transport system which assists an operator in manually re-supply yarn packages to independently movable tube support members which circulate throughout the textile machine.
Textile winding machines are known which are largely automated but in which the removal of tubes and/or the supplying of full yarn packages takes place manually. One well-known approach for supplying full yarn packages is to provide so-called round magazines at the individual winding heads and these round magazines are located above a receiving position of a package insertion location. If a new package is required, the package located in the first position in the round magazine falls out of the round magazine into the insertion device. The round magazine is then shifted one space further and is gradually emptied in this manner.
In another known design of a round magazine, the required package is not freed until the round magazine is shifted sufficiently to cause the package to lose its support when it arrives above the supply chute.
The emptying of the round magazine typically does not take place in a uniform manner. For example, it may occur that yarn packages having residual yarn or even yarn packages whose yarn end was not able to be grasped, may be encountered at one particular winding head. This round magazine then becomes empty more rapidly than the adjacent magazine and, in some instances, the associated winding head is empty before the time for the next manual refilling cycle, as a result of which the winding activity of this winding head is interrupted.
To avoid the problem of uneven supply rates, German patent document DE-B 12 78 308 discloses a system for compensating for the differing package requirements of the individual winding heads which includes a distributing device consisting of a belt with uniformly spaced pockets. The pockets of the belt are automatically filled at the head side of the winding machine in response to the sensing of the arrival of an empty pocket by a sensor. Such a system is not suitable for manual or hand loading since the operator would have to constantly monitor the circulating belt for empty pockets arriving at irregular intervals in order to maintain the smooth functioning of the system.
German patent document DE-A 26 50 699 teaches a separate package loading device which comprises a belt running approximately at table height--i.e., generally at the waist level of an operator--and having support surfaces for the packages on both sides of the belt. The operator removes the full yarn packages from the support surfaces and inserting them onto insertion pins of the particular winding heads. While this device provides a supply of packages at a position in which they can be easily grasped and sorted by the operator, the device does not remedy the problem of distributing the packages onto the individual winding heads in accordance with the package requirements. Accordingly, the need still exists for a manual re-supply arrangement which can flexibly accommodate the differing package requirements of the winding stations of a textile winding stations of a textile winding machine without the need for extensive operator supervision.